Two things AEW got wrong at Double or Nothing 2021

There is no such thing as a perfect wrestling show, and even a great event like All Elite Wrestling’s Double or Nothing can’t escape that reality.

This past Sunday’s pay-per-view gave the fans that either attended the show at Daily’s Place or tuned in on television more than enough action and moments to leave them satisfied once the proceedings ended.

But, again, the PPV wasn’t without its issues.

These are the two things that AEW got wrong at Double or Nothing 2021

Cody Rhodes caps off lame “US vs. Heel Foreigner” storyline with a win.

In a vacuum, there was nothing wrong with the Cody Rhodes vs. Anthony Ogogo match, including the result. While Rhodes and Ogogo didn’t put together the match of the year, they told a decent enough story where Ogogo dominated for much of the bout before being done in by his inexperience as a wrestler.

However, you can’t divorce this from the lazy, obtuse, retrograde “America vs. Foreign Menace” build-up that this match centered around, which made Rhodes’ win over Ogogo a much tougher pill to swallow than it should have been, particularly since Ogogo sounded more like a babyface during this feud than Rhodes did.

Sure the fans in Jacksonville, Fla. were happy to see “The American Nightmare” win, but even that reception felt muted compared to other Rhodes wins, and it certainly wasn’t worth ticking off the fans who saw this storyline for what it was: naked nationalism.

If they felt that scripting a basic storyline for this match wasn’t enough of a hook to drum up interest for it, then maybe they should’ve held off on it and done the Cody vs. QT Marshall match from Blood and Guts here instead. That way, you get the far better story of Cody seeking revenge against his former friend AND you get the babyface win without making fans feel grossed out by the “U.S. vs. Them” junk.

Teasing chair shots to the head with Shawn Spears….again.

We are in the year of our lord 2021 and AEW still thinks this chair shots to the head stuff is gonna get Shawn Spears over as a heel.

Look, he ultimately hit Sammy Guevara in the shoulder with the chair, which is good. And yes, I get that Spears is supposed to be the wildcard of The Pinnacle. But they can surely find another way to get that across to the fans without using the very real issue of concussions in wrestling for cheap heat.

It didn’t work when he feuded with Cody Rhodes back in 2019 and there’s no reason to think the results will be any better now.